When I think of Charleston, I think of all of the rich history of Charleston. There are the beautiful majestic antebellum homes, Fort Sumter, the gardens, and that's just the beginning of what Charleston is known for.

Yes, Charleston is known for its great golf courses, too. But, historic?

Back in 1786, Rev. Dr. Henry Purcell founded the South Carolina Golf Club. Like in Scotland there was no golf course, but golf was played in a common area open to the public known as the village green. There were forecaddies walking ahead of the group to forewarn those strolling through the village green that golfers where headed their way. In 1795, a clubhouse was built on Harleston Green where the club's business was conducted. The terms "fore" and "green fee" are thought to have evolved from these humble beginnings of golf.

After catching my breath about the historic origins of golf here in America, I began reviewing which courses to play in the area.

The good news is - You have your choice of almost two dozen courses. The bad news is they all come highly recommended.

You must choose which "best of the Best:" "First, Oldest, Best Places to Play, Course of the Year, Top 10 Resort Courses, America's Top Golf Courses, Golf for Women's Top 50 Golf Courses for Women, and Five Stars.

First on my list to play, of course, was "Osprey Point," named 10^thin Golf for Women Magazine's Top 50 Golf Courses for Women and for all the accolades given to Kiawah Island, including being the best in golf.

I must admit that when I started out on the first tee, I was quite rusty from not playing during the winter. But ready or not, I was ready to tackle one of Golf Digest's "America's Top 75 Resort Courses," and earning 4 stars in its "Places to Play."

With five sets of tees available for the various skills of players, our foursome played from three of them: the back tees, the white tees, and the forward tees. The course is challenging for the low handicappers, requiring some strategy to avoid the hazards, but fair to the high handicappers with generous landing areas and few forced carries. The course has a great variety of holes. Uphill slopes, water somewhere on almost every hole, fairway and greenside bunkers, a few mounds, and east to west winds changing direction, makes it play longer than the yardages indicate.

With four large natural lakes and fingers of saltwater marshes, you'll see a variety of wildlife. As the sun came out stronger in the afternoon, so did the alligators. Although, we were delighted to see these creatures we definitely kept our distance.

Before leaving, I made one last tour of the 14,000 square foot clubhouse where I found a variety of quality apparel, nicely appointed locker rooms, a semi-private dining room inviting us to linger for a while to talk about our great golf games, and a great staff of professionals in the pro shop.

Next, I wanted to reminisce about the "olden" days. Many, many moons ago, I spent some time on the beaches of Isle of Palms. While the white sand is still a popular place for residents and visitors alike, the Isle of Palms has become a great resort destination.

Instead of sun basking or riding the waves, I grabbed the gear for preparing for my adventure of driving my ball from the #1 tee over the rolling fairways, away from the humpbacked sand dunes, and putting into the cup on the Oceanside Hole #18. With breathtaking views and wanting to get my ball as close to see the ocean as possible while keeping it in the fairway of course, I saw why Wild Dunes is ranked among the best in the nation. The Tom Fazio designed Wild Dunes Resort Links Course was honored as the "2005 Charleston's Golf Course of the Year."

Wild Dunes offers another course, also designed by Tom Fazio, The Harbor Course. If you like to skirt with danger, there's water on almost every hole. Your golfing tales from this course will include how close your balls got to the Intracoastal Waterway.

This resort offers "Ladies Golf Getaway" packages. "Toss world-class golf into the mix and a touch of Wild Dunes-style entertainment, and you've got your own slice of nirvana." Who wouldn't be interested in "Divots and Divas," "Girls on the Green" or a "Pamper Me Silly" package.

That was a great day of golf where I spent the day on a different side of the dunes than in my earlier days.

Then, the description"like no other course in the Charleston area" caught my eye.

RiverTowne Country Club sounds like an easy going afternoon of golf. A little more inland at Mt. Pleasant, the RiverTowne Country Club sits on a 600-acre riverfront residential country club development in a classic Lowcountry setting. You feel the southern hospitality as you drive up to the clubhouse designed like a southern mansion.

The staff of professionals put us at ease when we checked in, directing us to the driving range for those of us who liked to warm up, and directing others of us who wanted to warm up in a different way to the "hot coffee."

The Ranger monitors the flow of foursomes off the first tee, and calls us when we should be in the ready. Little did we know that he knew more than we. His job of keeping a good flow between the foursomes made sure that we could enjoy every little morsel of challenge through the 18^th hole.

The first hole is a great welcome to the course, but then the game is on. Where there are five sets of tees, there's always a different game to be played. But, this course "really" has a different view from the back tees.

You may need "Arnie's Army" to find your balls with 200 and more yards of carry on some holes. Even on a Par 3 if you don't read the fine print (or look at the GPS), you may not realize there's nothing between you and the green except marsh from the back tees. Horlbeck Creek and the Wando River provide their own source of a winds challenge to many holes.

Although there are challenges everywhere, I played a good game of golf.

On Hole # 17, I had my play of the week. This is one hole that all players must carry. Ranging from 117 - 177 yards, the hourglass green has a bunker and a tabby wall in front of it. With all of this and even a gallery behind me, I hit the green and parred the hole.

For an experience you won't forget, put your signature to reserve a tee time on Arnold Palmer's First Signature golf course in Charleston.

From fairways of the stars and awards, there are a lot of gems still left for me to play in Charleston's neck of the woods. This was a great start to my collection.

Course	Yardage	Rating	Slope	Website	Telephone
Osprey Point at Kiawah Island	5023 - 6871	68.8 - 72.9	112 - 137	www.kiawahresort.com	(800) 654-2924
Wild Dunes Links Course	4849 - 6722	66.4 - 72.7	114 - 131	www.wilddunes.com	(888) 343-7921
RiverTowne Country Club	5089 - 6188	71.5 - 74.9	121 - 147	www.RiverTowneCountryClub.com	(866) 216-3777